Experience nature

numerous events and activities such as guided hikes, bicycle and paddle tours, youth work camps, drawing and photo championships and a lot more

habitat brochures presenting wetland ecosystems in the Alpine region and their flora and fauna as well as giving examples for responsible leisure-time pursuits, true to the Naturefriends
motto "Fair :-) towards the environment"

Because the project Water:Trails was developed in Austria, most of the information is provided in german (German website). The development of an internationalisation of the project is still in process. In the next few months we will provide information about the activities in
other countries on this site.

Past Events

International Applicat﻿ion Seminar Water:Trails

12th to 14th October 2012, Spital am Pyhrn, Austria

39 representatives of national and international Naturefriends associations as well as of the Austrian Federal Forests took part in the three-day application seminar. They were acquainted with
the environmentally educational activities and tools of the Water:Trails campaign and learned how to use them for their own activities. Furthermore, they participated in internationalising the
Water:Trails campaign.

The first day started with an overview about the background and objectives of the Austrian pilot project, which is a cooperation of Naturefriends and Austrian Federal Forests started in 2011, and
a presentation of the Water:Rucksack, an environmental-education kit jointly developed in
2012. This was followed by three impulse speeches and a panel discussion about awareness-raising activities in water habitats – an alluvial-forest workshop for children, a biosphere-reserve game
and short films and animations –, thus providing an opportunity for exchange of
experience.

The second day was spent outdoors, where participants could test the Water:Rucksack, guided by experienced environmental educators of Naturefriends and Federal Forests. The focus was on getting
to know experiential-education methods which help to awaken enthusiasm for stream water habitats and to pass on knowledge in a playful way.

On day three, the internationalisation of the Water:Trails campaign was discussed and ideas for it were gathered in parallel workshops within the Naturefriends movement.

The first environmentally educational tours with the Water:Rucksack can be booked starting in Spring 2013, exclusively at Naturefriends and Austrian Federal Forests. Please find further
information on this website, following these links: